The Golden Hour
by PrudenceKimberly
Summary: Regina woke up startled, a nagging feeling of dread in her heart, one that she could not explain. Was it paranoia? Inner demons? Or was it instinct? A one shot in the same universe as My Little Princess. You should read that one first before reading this one shot. StableQueen.


**So this was supposed to be published on the anniversary of publishing My Little Princess, which was a week ago, but life got in the way. It is set after the wedding. I do hope you will all enjoy it. Do let me know what you think. **

**Fair warning: SUPER long. **

**I will check it tomorrow for spelling and grammar, but it is 2 am here so excuse any errors.**

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><p>It was a starless night, the full moon casting its silver rays onto the deserted streets of the small town. Each car was parked in its parking spot, or driveway. Each door closed securely onto the residents of the building, only the street lights shone along the emptiness, even Granny's Diner sign was turned off, for no residents would be paying it a visit now.<p>

Said residents were all sound asleep, huddled with their loved ones, sheltering themselves from the hot air, and taking full advantage of modern air conditioning.

The residents of the young Mayor's mansion were no different, with the exception of the brunette herself.

Regina jerked awake, her eyes landing on the back of her sleeping husband. She didn't know what woke her, the house was dead silent, and there was no one in the room. And yet, she had a strange feeling, one that she did not like one bit. She had a feeling of impending doom.

She threw the covers off herself and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, grabbing her phone off the nightstand as she headed for the door. She pulled the door closed behind her, as her fingers worked quickly to locate her daughter's cellphone number, as she made her way to Henry's room to check on him.

Ariel and Emma had decided six weeks before to make good on their word to Gold and try and find his son. Ariel had already gotten all the information she could get using magic, and now it had to be done the old fashioned way. The search had taken them to Los Angeles, and even though it was three in the morning in Storybrooke, it was still midnight there. Regina had already spoken to Ariel before she went to bed, and Ariel gruntingly reported that they weren't any closer to finding Baelfire. But still, Regina needed to hear her baby's voice.

She breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she found Henry fast asleep in his bed – he had been staying mainly with her while Emma was away – and made her way over to Ariel's room, just as Ariel's voicemail picked up the call.

'_Hi, this is Ariel, I can't get to the phone right now, please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. And if this is Mom, please don't freak out, this doesn't mean I'm lying dead in a ditch somewhere, it just means I can't get to the phone.'_

Regina couldn't help the soft chuckle at her daughter's sense of humor, even though she heard that message countless times, it still brought a smile to her lips. She was sitting on the neatly made bed, staring at the framed pictures. One of Daniel with Ariel, and the other with Ariel curled up in her arms on the couch.

"Baby it _is_ me, I know it's late and you're probably asleep, but I just wanted to hear your voice. Call me in the morning when you get this. I love you," Regina said, her voice catching slightly at the end. She didn't know why, but the feeling of dread refused to leave her. On the contrary, it was getting worse. For some reason beyond her comprehension, she felt like she was saying 'I love you' for the last time.

Her eyes drifted back to the framed picture of her and Ariel, her mind wandering to the day it was taken. Ariel had gotten badly sick, fever, runny nose, sore throat, upset stomach, the whole shebang. Regina had been terrified, it was Ariel's first time getting sick, and Regina was scared that her body would not be able to handle it. She was still not over the whole fiasco of her body dealing with the aftermath of too much magic. She had moved the office back home, and stayed with Ariel all day and night, despite the fact that Daniel had offered to take Ariel off her hands, to which she had come up with all kinds of excuses as to why she can't possibly do that. It wasn't until she couldn't reschedule a town council meeting, that she reluctantly left Ariel in Daniel's care. Of course, he regretted it the second she left the house since she called every five mintues.

That day, Ariel was finally able to get out of bed and make it safely down the stairs, but was still not ready to act like an adult, and adorably curled up against Regina's chest, wedging herself between Regina's body and the armrest of the couch. Regina had draped a scarlet Afghan over her, and tightly wrapped her arms around her. And apparently, Daniel thought that mother and daughter looked picturesque, and therefore, secretly made Henry snap the photo. Ariel had tiredly admired the picture, and asked Henry to print it out for her, before she put it in a frame and placed it on the nightstand.

She jolted out of her thoughts when a hand was placed on her shoulder, she whipped her head around and met the ocean blue eyes that were still capable of making her heart race. He had the same sympathetic look he's had for the past six weeks, the one he always has whenever Ariel leaves Storybrooke, and she starts to panic – despite her better judgment, and knowing that her fears were irrational – but she really couldn't help herself, and he knew that better than anyone. He himself would find that he missed his daughter, and often had the urge to stop her from leaving the house, even if it's with Henry, but Regina was always the emotional one, and he was the rational one. After all, Regina was the one who lost Ariel and spent fifty years believing her child was dead, and that she will never see her again. And him, well….he was the man who came back from the dead and found that he had a beautiful young witch for a daughter.

He smile softly at her, as he knelt down in front of her, his hand softly running up and down her back comfortingly.

"Can't sleep again?" he asked sleepily, but sympathetically.

"Something's wrong," she whispered fearfully, and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What makes you say that?" he wondered, and she shrugged. "I don't know, it's just a feeling," she confessed, already knowing that the answer won't make much sense to him.

"Are you sure it's not stemming from everything that's happened?" he ventured, and she shook her head.

"Something's wrong!" she repeated adamantly, her voice catching slightly on the last word.

Before Daniel could get in another word, they were both surprised to hear the sound of the front door opening. They both furrowed their eyebrows, especially when they heard two sets of footsteps enter, before the door was slowly closed once more.

They both left the room, and made their way to the stairs. Regina turned her head back slightly when she heard the soft click of a door, and saw both her father's and Henry's doors open, as they both peeked their heads out of their rooms.

"What is going on?" Henry yawned, as he rubbed his eyes, and Regina just shrugged.

All four of them made their way down the stairs, nearly pilling into Daniel when he stopped suddenly at the last step. His eyes widened in both shock and horror, horror that mirrored the looks on the new comers faces. Although he did not see only horror in them, but also….fear. He wasn't sure that he wanted to know what they had to say anymore.

He felt Regina move around him, and could almost see the muscles on her back stiffen, as her breath hitched in her throat.

"Snow?" Regina said in trepidation. Like Daniel, she was not sure she wanted to hear what they were going to say, especially that the feeling of dread just grew to mythical proportions.

"Regina," David called softly, and waited patiently as her terrified gaze slowly shifted towards him, before he added, "its Ariel!"

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><p>The rain trickled down, sliding past the tall skyscrapers, over the umbrellas, hitting the concrete and windshields to create two different kind of sounds. People in the street rushed to get to their destinations, taking cover under the scattered balconies of buildings, as the wipers on each cars windshields rushed to wipe away the many droplets to allow the drivers the ability to see, only for the sky to quickly replace them with new ones. The red and blue lights flashed relentlessly, as the accompanying siren beckoned people to get out of the way, as the driver of the vehicle maneuvered the car rather impressively considering the rain, in an effort to get his passengers to their destination before tragedy struck once more. It was the downside to his job, and he knew, but it wasn't one that he had quite gotten used to yet, and he prayed he never will. He had one task, and one alone, to get drive the car as quickly – and safely – as possible while his partner made sure the passengers make it there.<p>

His partner watched, entranced, as both his passengers engaged in an emotional conversation. But only one of them actually said anything, while the other, said everything she wished with her eyes. Those deep brown chocolate expressive eyes, ones that he hadn't quite seen anything like before, her hand tightly gripped by the blonde, who hysterically begged her to stay awake.

He saw the pain in her eyes, the fear, the need to just slip into darkness and escape the pain. But it appeared that the blonde was not going to let that happen, for every time those eyelids fluttered closed, she'd scream at the brunette to open them again. He had to admit that it was helping her vitals stay strong and stable, considering the circumstances that is. After all, he knew better than anyone that sometimes the body doesn't give in to the full extent of an injury unless it is given time to actually process it.

"Ariel," Emma sobbed, one hand clutching a limp hand to her chest, "please you've got to stay awake. You can't let your eyes close, you can't surrender to the darkness," she begged her tearfully, her heart breaking as she looked into the pained eyes of the girl whom she has been spending the past six weeks with. "I know it hurts," she continued, her other hand cradling Ariel's cheek, as her thumb made work of the tears cascading down, "and I know that it's taking a lot of your energy to stay awake, but you've got to keep fighting it. If not for me, if not for Hook, then for Regina," she pressed, "Please don't let her worst nightmare come true. You and I both know that she won't survive losing you again," she pleaded.

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><p>A hollow silence descended upon the white proud mansion, its residents now standing very still, neither saying a word, neither moving a muscle, all of them barely even breathing. Regina's heart almost stopped beating within her chest, she was right, something <em>was<em> wrong with her baby, and the look on David's face proved it, long before his words said it.

"What about her?" Daniel finally found the strength to talk, albeit choking on his own voice.

Regina kept moving her eyes between Snow and David, trying her best to deny the look in their eyes, trying to assure herself that it was her own paranoia that as making her see these things.

Both David and Snow traded looks, "th…there….there was an accident," Snow ventured, her voice catching slightly, and Regina took a step back, almost as if she was trying to escape the words that were leaving Snow's mouth.

Daniel of course was behind her in an instant, and wrapped his arms around her now violently shaking body.

Their eyes were fixated on Snow, and slowly moved to David when he the latter decided to save his wife the task of having to hold herself together long enough to tell the story. "A drunk driver passed a red light and slammed into them," David spoke softly, his voice thick with held back tears, and Regina started to shake her head, as she repeatedly whimpered, 'no'. It was obvious that the real bad news was still to come, but that David was still trying to find a way to say it.

"He hit the passenger side," Snow whispered dejectedly, closing her eyes when Regina gasped in pain, as she struggled to breath. The implication behind Snow's words needed no explanation; if he hit the passenger side, then Ariel took the blow, and was either dead, or hanging on by a thread.

Her full weight fell against Daniel, who tightened his arms around her, and pressed his lips into her hair in an attempt to calm her, doing his best to hold back his own tears.

Henry's small body also started to shake, his hands clutching Henry Sr.'s jacket sleeve when the latter wrapped his arms around him.

"How bad is it?" Henry Sr. barely managed to choke out.

"They're at the hospital, and they took Ariel into surgery. Emma still doesn't know any more at the moment," David answered. And right on time, his phone began to ring.

David immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, already knowing who the caller is. After all, who else would be calling him at this ungodly hour?

"Put her on speaker," Daniel commanded, and David wordlessly complied.

"Emma," he said, and was answered by a gasp.

"Dad," Emma sobbed, "the nurse just came out."

"What did she say?" David asked.

"She has two broken ribs, one of which punctured her lung, her kidney and liver are bleeding, and she has a brain bleed," she listed tearfully, "they said they're doing everything they can," she added.

"It's going to be fine," David tried to soothe his hysterical daughter.

"Dad, 'we're doing everything we can' is what they tell the patient's family before they call time of death," Emma yelled, realizing her slip when she heard Regina's agonized scream.

"NO!" tore through the silence of the night, as Regina completely collapsed to the floor, with Daniel easing her down to her knees.

"She's gonna get through this, she's strong," he murmured into her hair repeatedly, but she continued to shake her head.

"Oh God, please not my baby," she sobbed brokenly.

With nothing left to say, Emma just hung up, and David stuffed the phone back into his pocket. But before he could say a word to calm Regina, the front door swung open, and both August and Hook walked in. and for the first time ever, David felt sorry for Hook. He looked like someone had just ripped out his heart, and was slowly crushing it to dust. At this moment, he had no doubt in his mind that he truly loved Ariel.

"We found three tickets, the plane leaves in four hours, giving us barely enough time to get to Logan International Airport," August informed them.

"Who is we?" Daniel inquired.

"I booked the tickets for me, you and Killian," he replied.

"I'm coming with you!" Regina almost growled.

"Regina," Daniel started but she shook her head violently, "NO!" she yelled, "I will not stay here while my _daughter_ is fighting for her life half way across the country!" she screamed in agony.

"And you won't even remember having a daughter if you cross over that line," Daniel deadpanned, his mind wandering back to when they tried to see if Regina will be spared the memory loss effect of crossing the line since she was the one to cast the actual curse. But as it turned out, no one aside from Ariel, August, Killian, Aurora, Mulan, Daniel and Henry Sr. were spared. Anyone else – Regina and Henry included – would lose their memories of the Enchanted Forest, and with Regina and Henry, they ended up with total amnesia since they never really had a cursed identity.

Regina was about to argue with Daniel when her daughter's hurt eyes flashed before her own. She still couldn't get the image of Ariel's broken gaze as she restored her memories once more out of her head. The look of absolute betrayal when she looked at her, cocked her head and said three little words, 'who are you?' She had remembered everything once Ariel restored her memories, and even though she knew that it was out of her hand, she still felt guilty for not recognizing her own daughter. And besides, Daniel had a point. If she was to cross the town line, she wouldn't even remember having a daughter, let alone remember that she was fighting for her life.

"Regina, she will need her mother, and you have to know who she is to help her," Daniel argued softly, knowing fully that Regina's resistance was pure emotions, and that rationally she knew that she had to stay here, but no mother could.

Regina just continued to sob in his arms, and he continued to hold her tightly, "I won't leave her side, I won't go anywhere till she opens her eyes and talks to me," he vowed, and she reluctantly nodded. "I'll call you as soon as I know anything," he added, as he pulled back from their embrace, and brushed her hair back a little, his heart breaking at the agonized look in her eyes. His eyes traveled to Snow, who now stood behind Regina.

"Go get ready, we'll take care of her," she stated softly, one hand now resting on Regina's back, and Daniel solemnly nodded, before he ran up the stairs.

* * *

><p>The taxi screeched to halt outside the hospital doors, and all three men had already opened their doors, and bolted out of the car. August hurriedly paid the driver, and rushed after the other two, who had already found their ways to a nurse's station.<p>

Daniel had never been inside a hospital before, not even the Storybrooke one, and he had hoped that he never has to. And so, he had no idea what to do, but he wanted to get to his daughter.

"May I help you?" a friendly nurse smiled up at him from behind the desk.

"Yes, I need to know where the two young ladies who were brought in from the car accident are," he demanded urgently.

"Names?" the nurse asked.

"Ariel Mills, and Emma Swan," August answered her, as he now joined the two men.

"Are either of you gentlemen related to them?" the woman asked calmly, and August could feel Daniel shaking with suppressed rage at this point.

"I'm Daniel Mills," he snapped, using Regina's last name to prove that he indeed was Ariel's father.

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><p>The three men rushed down the long, white corridor, following the signs to their destination. This was Daniel's first time inside a hospital, and he still found himself taken aback by the general atmosphere. Hook and August on the other hand, could not shake the eerie familiarity of the situation. For just a few months ago, they had both busted through the hospital doors in Storybrooke, after news of Regina's rescue got to them. And for Hook, he was also rushing through the halls to get to Ariel. Only this time, he didn't even know if she was there or not.<p>

They finally reached their destination, only to find yet another nurse's station, with no sign of Emma or Ariel.

"Excuse me, Ariel Mills please?" Daniel asked impatiently.

"Mr. Mills?" a voice behind them questioned, and all three turned around to locate the source. They found a doctor standing, eyeing all three of them, clearly not seeing the man old enough to be Ariel's father!

"Yes!" Daniel replied, trying to decipher the look the doctor was giving him.

"I'm Dr. Halliwell, I'm the doctor assigned to your daughter's case," he introduced himself, extending a hand, which Daniel impatiently shook.

"How is she?" Hook chimed in.

"She's tough!" the doctor chuckled. "With her injuries, it was a miracle that she was still awake when they brought her in, which is probably what saved her life" he continued, "we took her to surgery immediately, where we discovered the full extent of her injuries…" his explanation was interrupted by Hook's impatient growl.

"Yes, her lungs, kidney, liver and brain. Is she alive?" he demanded.

"We were able to repair all of her injured, except for the kidney," the doctor said remorsefully, "it was badly injured, and the only way to save her life was to remove it," he finished gravely.

"Can she live like this?" Daniel inquired, his voice barely a tad over a whisper, as his brain tried to catch up with the information he was hearing.

"Yes, her other kidney is working perfectly fine."

"Where is she?" Hook asked.

"She's still in recovery, her vitals are holding strong, and she's stable."

"Can we see her?" Daniel and Hook chorused.

"Not all of you at the same time, especially that Ms. Swan is glued to her bedside," he informed them, as he gestured with her hand towards the room's direction.

"How is Emma?" August asked.

"She got lucky, just some minor cuts and bruises," he answered, as he led them down the long hall.

Once they all reached the room, they were able to see Ariel through the glass window, with Emma sitting by her side, holding her hand. Both Daniel and Hook froze at the sight of her connected to a bunch of different wires, which in turn were connected to a lot of monitors. She looked fragile, small, and vulnerable, with the plastic tube placed below her nose, as her chest rose faintly with each faint breath she took.

Emma – completely oblivious to the two men watching – only looked up from her staring at Ariel's hand when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes stared unseeing at August for a couple of minutes, before her brain finally caught up with what he was saying. The doctor – who was standing next to the monitors, scribbling down on a paper as he looked at the monitors – also spoke softly to her, before he took his leave. Emma and August soon followed, and Emma looked like she as the one who personally hit Ariel.

"Daniel, I'm so sorry," she apologized tearfully, and Daniel looked at her in confusion.

"Emma, what are you talking about?" he asked incredulously.

"I didn't see him coming, he just came out of nowhere, and I didn't have a chance to stop," she blabbered, taking a shaky breath. But before she could say anything else, Daniel wrapped his arms around her.

"Emma, this was not your fault. He was the one who passed a red light, and slammed into you guys, you did nothing wrong," he soothed, kissing the top of her head.

"Yes, but she's in there fighting for her life," she gasped.

"She's strong, she'll pull through," he said confidently. Although he wasn't sure if he was trying to assure her, or himself.

Once they pulled apart, August signaled for him that he will take care of Emma, and that he should be with Ariel. He looked once more at his injured daughter, and found Hook sitting in the chair previously occupied by Emma, holding the same hand, as the tears now finally made their way down his cheeks. He could no deny the love he had for his daughter, for it was clear as the sun; the way he looked at her, how he caressed her cheek, how he tenderly kissed the back of her hand.

He walked slowly into the room, and made his way around to the other side of the bed. He was half expecting her to open her eyes and greet him, he was waiting for that radiant smile to grace her pale lips, and he was waiting for his daughter's spirit to come back to her. He still couldn't wrap his head around the fact that the very still brunette lying in the hospital bed, her face pale, her head wrapped, with needles poking into her arm, was his vibrant, energetic daughter.

He ran his fingers through her hair, his fingertips slightly brushing against her temple, sliding down her cheek, stopping at the plastic tube and reluctantly moving past it. It tore him to pieces, seeing her like this. He stroked her hair once more – the part of it that wasn't covered at the top – before he bent down, and buried his mouth in her hair. It was meant to be a lingering kiss, for he hadn't seen his baby in six weeks, but he found himself taking in her scent, that beautiful mix of apples, roses, and ocean. He couldn't pull back, he couldn't let her go…..he was afraid to let her go. He was afraid that if he pulled back, opened his eyes even, that the doctors will tell him that his daughter had died.

He had expected the tears to come, the flood gates to open, for all the held back emotions to come crashing down on him, but they didn't. He hadn't shed a single tear since he heard the news hours before, and it seemed that his body was still refusing to react.

He moved his head slightly, so now his forehead rested against the top of her head. "Please," he pleaded softly, not caring that Hook was there as well, his mouth pressed to the back of Ariel's limp hand. "Please, come back to us," he begged her gently.

* * *

><p>Regina sat on the couch, her back resting on the armrest, while her head limply laid against the backrest, her arms wrapped tightly around the red velvet blanket that had once been the only comfort she had, her mind conjuring every memory she has of her daughter, with Daniel's voice echoing in the background. 'Two broken ribs, punctured lung, liver and kidney were injured as well, brain had to remove her kidney to save her life.'<p>

All those words rang in her head, as well as the implications behind them. Those were serious, people die from one of them, let alone all of them combined. It was true that Ariel had gotten seriously injured before, but she always had magic around to heal her. Even when Cora injured her during the standoff, Triton was quick to heal her as soon as he saw her. It was true that she still fought Cora while she bled, but it was probably the effect of the adrenaline pumping through her veins. That and pure malice.

But now, she didn't know anything except what Daniel and Emma were telling her, and she had a feeling that they went telling her everything, and was worried that they were downplaying the seriousness of it all to ease her mind, as if that was even remotely possible. She never thought she would actually admit to it, but she was grateful for Emma's genetically inherited stubbornness. For according the doctor, Emma hadn't let Ariel slip into the waiting darkness, which stopped her body from succumbing to the full extent of her injuries. He also said that if Ariel made it through the next couple of hours, she will be fine; her injuries were extensive, and her body was trying to get over the trauma, but it all depended on her will to live…..her will to fight.

She knew Ariel was a fighter, and the most stubborn person on the face of the planet – a trait which she inherited from her of course – but none of that soothed the aching pain in her chest. She needed to see her, to hold her, to be there when she finally opens her eyes….if she did.

She couldn't help but reflect on a day, a day in the not so distant past, but yet felt to be eons ago. A day when she sat on this couch, but except of hugging Ariel's baby blanket to her chest, she was hugging her baby girl herself.

* * *

><p><em>It was two days after the surprise birthday party they had thrown her, and the first morning for Ariel back home. She had spent the night of her return with Killian at his place, giving her parents some alone time on Regina's birthday, and also getting alone time with the man she loves as well. And as much as Regina loved Daniel, and appreciated the gesture, she missed her daughter terribly. She hadn't seen her in two months, and wanted her back home, especially since she was yet to see the room Regina made for her in her absence. For after Snow and David had moved out, Regina had taken the room that they used and renovated it completely for Ariel's sake. It was the only other room with a bathroom, aside from hers and Henry's, and she figured that Ariel will probably need her privacy. So she gave her father a room that faced a bathroom on the second floor, and gave Ariel the one with in suite bathroom. <em>

_She had watched Ariel, a warm satisfied smile on her lips, as the latter's jaw dropped at the sight of the room. The walls were a warm beige color, with intricate gold designs. The bed was grand, a warm red comforter covering it. With a luxurious couch under the window, and a marvelous vanity. But one item in particular had caught Ariel's eye, something that was draped over the back of the creamy-colored couch. _

"_What is this doing here?" Ariel asked, turning to face her mother, the item in question clutched in her hand. _

_Regina walked into the room, and covered her daughter's hands over the object, "it's your baby blanket," she said softly, and Ariel chuckled. _

"_That doesn't answer my question," she pointed out softly. _

"_I want you to have it," Regina stated, though it was clear that there was still more that she wanted to say. _

"_I have no use for it, I think you should keep it," Ariel argued softly, furrowing her eyebrows when Regina sighed, as she averted her eyes and looked at the blanket. _

"_Mom, why you do you want me to keep it?" she asked apprehensively. _

"_Because it's the only thing that I gave you when you were a baby that I still have, it's the only memory from your childhood that you and I can share" she mumbled, choking slightly on the last word. _

_Ariel smiled lovingly at her, before she wrapped her arms around her neck, and buried her face in her hair. _

"_I love you, Mom."_

_Regina had just settled onto the couch in the living room with a cup of coffee in her hand, as she tried hard not to laugh at Daniel's persistent and obsessive pacing. She was quite enjoying seeing him baffled and out of his depth, for he was always the one who kept it together and was the one who was always levelheaded, but it seemed that she finally found the one thing that can rattle him…Killian Jones, also known as Captain Hook, not to mention Ariel's boyfriend. _

_Her eyes moved to the door of the room when she caught someone standing there out of the corner of her eye, her face breaking into a bright smile at the sight of her still slightly sleepy daughter. _

"_What are you obsessing about?" Ariel quipped, as she patted into the room, kissing her father on the cheek before she made her way over to her mother, who placed the coffee mug on the coffee table and opened her arms. Ariel – who never missed a chance to snuggle up to Regina, much to Regina's gratitude – sat next to her, and snuggled between her body and the armrest. _

"_I'm not obsessing," Daniel protested, as she sat down. _

"_Uhuh! I'm pretty sure the carpet would disagree!" she pointed out to the faint line in the carpet from his pacing. _

"_He's spending the day with Killian," Regina informed her._

"_Killian?" she repeated, "MY Killian?" she almost squealed, earning herself a loud groan from her father. _

"_Don't' call him that!" he whined childishly, glaring at Regina when her soft chuckling turned into full laughter. _

"_David thought it was a good idea for all the guys to have a day out, and for Daniel and Killian to get to know each other," Regina explained._

_Just as Regina finished talking, they heard David's voice call from the front lawn, "Daniel, let's go!"_

"_Alright, show time!" Daniel declared, rolling his eyes at the identical amused smirks on mother and daughter's faces. "I guess I'll see you both at diner," he stated, as he bent down to kiss Ariel on the head, and Regina on the lips._

"_Please don't kill him," Ariel teased. _

"_I'll do my best, but I can't promise!" he grumbled. _

_Both women laughed, as Ariel dropped her head onto Regina's chest, as they listened to the brief mix of voices that filtered into the house when Daniel opened the door, before the house fell silent once more when he closed it. _

"_Did you sleep well?" Regina asked, her cheek now resting on top of Ariel's head, her coffee completely forgotten now. _

"_Oh yeah! Those pillows are ridiculous. I mean I lived under the sea, and my pillow was never as soft!" she chirped happily._

_Regina chuckled at her daughter's enthusiasm, "I'm glad to hear that." _

_They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, neither woman saying anything, just enjoying each other's presence. _

"_Ariel?" Regina called softly._

"_Hm."_

"_Can I ask you something?" she asked tentatively, and this got Ariel to lift her head off Regina's chest. She heard something in her mother's voice, and seeing the apprehensive look on her face, she furrowed her eyebrows. _

"_Of course," she said immediately. _

"_I know that we said that will come up with a way for you to split your time between here and Atlantica," she started, and Ariel nodded. "And I thought that if you stayed here for a few weeks, and then went there for a few weeks would be better, but…." She sighed, "Can we think of a different way so that you don't have to stay there for a long time?" she ventured, then realized that her words made it sound like she didn't want Ariel spending as much time with her parents. But before she could go back on her word, Ariel had already understood the motive behind her words. _

"_The nightmares came back." She stated flatly, and Regina smiled sadly at her. _

"_I know it's ridiculous. But I missed you terribly, and my mind started to wander to all those years I thought you were dead, and…." She ranted, only to be stopped by Ariel._

"_It's okay," she soothed, "you don't have to explain to me," she added. "I….uh…I was actually thinking of the same thing," she mumbled, and Regina looked confused. _

"_You were?"_

"_Yeah, I….uh….I've had nightmares as well," she confessed, and Regina's heart sank. _

"_Which ones?" she inquired, already suspecting that she knew the answer. _

"_What Cora did to you," Ariel answered, her voice so small, that Regina couldn't help but reflect on the 10 year old she saw in her dream-like state. _

"_Oh baby," she breathed, as she pulled Ariel back into her arms. As bad as her nightmares about what Cora did to Ariel, or that funeral she saw while she was unconscious, she always took solace in the fact that they weren't real. But Ariel can't do that, for what she heard was actual screams, and actual bones snapping. They had talked extensively about those dreams while she was at the hospital, and even after they came back home. But it seemed that the distance caused bad memories to awake in both mother and daughter. _

_She tightened her hold on Ariel, when she felt the tears through her top, "I'm right here baby," she murmured into her hair, as she ran her fingers through it gently._

* * *

><p>Ariel had promised her that day that she won't let anyone take her down, at least not without one hell of a fight.<p>

Her father stood in the doorway, watching the spectrum of emotions on her face as she undoubtedly reflected on a happier memory with her daughter. He walked into the room, but she didn't look up, making him doubt if she even heard his footsteps. He walked briskly towards her huddled figure on the couch, recognizing the red object, and trying to push away the flood of images that raced through his mind of an eerily familiar sight. Images of the countless time he had walked into Regina's room and found her hugging that blanket as she wept raced before his eyes, as he begged the Gods above for a different ending this time. He wasn't sure that Regina will survive losing Ariel a second time.

He wordlessly sat on the couch next to her, and took her into his arms. And that was when the floodgates opened once more. Her soft whimpering, turned into gut wrenching sobs and wails. And he just sat there and held her, he didn't try to soothe her or calm her. As well as Snow and David mean, they had the comfort of knowing that their child was well, and he was very grateful about that, but it gave them hope, and not Regina. Regina was not only the mother who didn't know the fate of her child, but also the mother who was half way across the country, and couldn't be with her child. He knew that if something happened to Ariel, that's the thing that's going to keep playing in Regina's head over and over again…that she wasn't there with her daughter when she died, that she didn't hold her for one last time.

The persistent ringing of a phone pulled him out of his thoughts, and jolted Regina out of his arms. She immediately reached for her phone, and answered without even looking at the caller ID.

"Daniel?" she rasped out into the phone, her heart racing as her mind conjured up every single horrible scenario there was, choosing to focus on the most horrific of all….he was calling to tell her that they just lost their daughter.

"Not quite," came the faint, tired voice, and she couldn't believe her ears.

"Ariel?" she choked out, expecting it all to be a hallucination, and for Daniel's voice to answer her this time. She hadn't noticed Snow, David and Henry, who had rushed into the room at the sound of the ring, and who were now laughing in relief.

"Hi Mommy," Ariel croaked tiredly, her voice barely a tad over a whisper, but it was music to Regina's ears.

Regina gasped in relief, as she struggled to take her breath, her sobs now ones of relief and pain alike.

"Mom," Ariel called faintly, but Regina couldn't answer. She was relieved to hear her daughter's voice, but it also increased her need to hold her.

She heard Ariel call for her again, and it made her cry even harder.

"Mommy!" came the faint plea, and she could hear the smile on her baby's face.

"Yes baby?" she whimpered on a sob.

She heard Ariel chuckle, then wince in pain. "Still gets you!" she quipped groggily, and Regina smiled. "Always." She vowed.

* * *

><p>It had been three weeks since that phone call that gave her hope, three weeks since that awful moment David told her Ariel was fighting for her life, and the doctors had finally agreed to release Ariel, but only after Daniel had assured them that they will make sure that she takes it easy.<p>

'Don't worry, Dr., there's a whole army waiting for her at home, and they will not let her overwork herself, especially her mother." Daniel had pointed out, smiling at the knowing smirks Ariel, Killian, August and Emma had on their faces.

He had tried repeatedly to convince Emma to go back to Storybrooke after the doctors cleared her, but she refused to leave. Even after Ariel was moved to a regular room, and was stable and making good progress, Emma still refused to leave. Which Daniel thought was really honorable.

And now, they were finally coming home. And both Snow and Regina were obsessing over that fact, driving the other three men absolutely crazy. They made every single meal both girls loved, every desert known to mankind since they both had a sweet tooth and never said no to anything with chocolate in it, and Regina had gone overboard with a makeover to the living room so Ariel can stay rested, even going as far as buying a new couch, because the old one wasn't a very comfortable one.

And since everyone who was capable of leaving town, aside from her father, was already in Los Angeles, no one was able to go pick them up from the airport. August had wisely left Snow's car in long term parking when they left, and was now driving them all back.

She was putting the finishing touches on an apple pie, when she heard the faint sound of a car parking outside her house, and the excited voices of Snow and David. She rushed out of the kitchen in time to see Henry swinging the front door open, and dashing towards an approaching Emma, with Snow and David hot on his heels. As glad as she was to see Emma, she was desperate to see Ariel.

She made her way out of the house, since the now embracing Charmings were blocking her view, and she couldn't even see the car. She stopped in her tracks when she saw August standing with one of the back doors open, and Daniel's upper half still inside the car, with Killian standing next to him, completely obstructed from view, except for the hand on Daniel's back.

"Take it easy," she heard him say, as he slowly stood tall once more.

She didn't know why she couldn't move, maybe a part of her was worried this was all a dream, and that she will wake up if she moved. But whatever the reason was, she just stood there, holding her breath, waiting for Daniel to move so she can finally see her daughter.

She saw her hand clutching Daniel's arm, as the later moved back slightly, allowing her room to get out of the car, before he moved back completely, letting Killian help her stand fully.

She took a shuddered breath at the sight of her daughter, she was slightly pale, and a bit thinner, but her eyes still shone with the same warmth and love that never failed to warm Regina's heart.

Ariel smiled warmly at her mother, her longing evident in her eyes, as she supported part of her weight on Killian, who wrapped one hand around her waist, the other one tightly holding hers.

She moved slowly, her face contorted in pain at the few steps, even though she tried to hide it from Regina. And as soon as she set foot inside the front yard, that seemed to snap Regina out of her freezing spell. She dashed towards her daughter, stopping herself before she barreled into her. She didn't say a word, she didn't even bother to think of something to say. She just wrapped her arms around her daughter's shoulders and pulled her into her arms, mindful of her injuries, and careful not to cause her any more pain.

A mixed sound of laughter and sobbing left her lips when Ariel nuzzled her neck, and wrapped her own arms around her waist.

"Mommy," she mumbled, her voice muffled by Regina's hair, and this made Regina's tears fall even faster.

She tightened her hold on Ariel, and moved one hand to cradle her head, her fingers softly brushing through her ebony locks. She felt Daniel wrap his arms around the two of them, and soon heard him sniffling. He hadn't cried, throughout the entire ordeal, he had kept his resolve. But now, seeing Ariel finally back in Regina's arms, opened up the flood gates, and he couldn't hold the tears at bay anymore. So he just held his wife and daughter, and cried. For he knew that if something had happened to Ariel, it wouldn't have been just his daughter he would've lost, but also his wife.

After a few moments like this, the small family broke their embrace, and Regina pulled back enough to hold her daughter's exhausted looking face in her hands.

"Thank you," she whispered tearfully, and Ariel furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "For coming back to us," Regina clarified, as she bent forward and kissed Ariel's forehead.

"Always!" Ariel promised.

Snow, David, her father and Henry now walked over to Ariel, and Regina reluctantly let go of her daughter and made her way over to Emma, and wordlessly wrapped her in a hug.

"Thank you," she said once more into the woman's shoulder.

Emma pulled back from the hug, a puzzled look on her face. "You're thanking me? I promised you I would take care of her in a world where she knows nothing, and I failed," she argued.

"No you didn't," Regina objected softly, "you protected her when she needed it the most. You didn't let her slip into the darkness, and it saved her life," she pointed out, "and for that I will eternally be grateful."

Emma smiled at Regina, tears of gratitude glistening in her eyes. Regina was no fool, she knew Emma felt guilty, and was proven correct when Daniel told her about what she said when she first saw him at the hospital. And so she wanted Emma to know that she didn't know blame her one bit, nor did she think for a second that any of this was her fault.

She looked back at Ariel, and found her leaning against Killian, as Daniel, David, August and Henry got the bags. She made her way back towards them, and hugged Ariel once more.

"Welcome home baby."


End file.
